1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an impact resistant flexible body device to prevent injury from high speed projectiles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Impact resistant body armor is known in the art. Various types of body armor are worn, for example, by police and military personnel, to prevent injury from high speed projectiles such as bullets and shrapnel. Such body armor typically includes a ballistic fabric made from aramid fibers such as KEVLAR® (available from E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Co. of Chattanooga, Tenn.), fibers of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) such as, e.g., SPECTRA® (available from Allied Signal of Morristown N.J., or other such ballistic fabric material.
Present body armor in use can defeat only lower energy projectiles unless large, inflexible plates are added to the outside of the body armor to withstand high energy projectiles. The plates cannot be easily or affordably tailored to the individual body shapes of the wearers and cannot cover large areas of the body where a large range of motion occurs such as, for example, at the groin or shoulder area. Moreover, current armor with the inflexible plates does not effectively disperse impact energy or prevent shock waves from damaging sensitive internal organs. Of special concern are the high velocity rounds of military weapons. Typical military rounds (fall metal jacket, 7.62×51 mm, 150 grains) travel at up to about 850 m/s. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved body armor device to protect the wearer from such high velocity projectiles and yet allow freedom of motion.